Textbook publisher D. C. Heath and Co. offers texts for many higher education fields, including biology, chemistry, economics, English, political science, modern languages, mathematics, history, and computer science. It also publishes tutorial software, videodiscs, and test programs to accompany the texts.
Product Development
The company develops proprietary software by contracting with software developers and working with professors who want to publish their software. The company also makes co-marketing arrangements for software and forms alliances with outside sources to customize existing products for D. C. Heath’s use. For instance, the Language Tutor program for Heath’s textbooks in Spanish is a customized version of Tense Tutor by HyperGlot, a foreign language software producer.
Customer Support
Customers who call the technical support line are directed to the editor who developed the product in question. Two benefits result for both sides: customers can ask questions of an expert about the product and Heath can evaluate and improve its line as a result of customer feedback. Questions tend to accumulate in the beginning and middle parts of semesters when students use the products more frequently, according to David Serbun, an editorial director.
Marketing and Distribution
D.C. Heath handles all development, marketing, and advertising in-house. In the past 18 months, the company has moved to an aggressive approach to new technology , according to Brian McGuire, manager of new technology. Previously, there was a more conservative approach to technology, which focused on products that could be given away upon adoption of a textbook. Now, the company is working with more saleable, competitive software, says McGuire, as well as CD-ROMs and videodiscs. All of these products are distributed directly from the publisher’s distribution center in Indianapolis, Ind.
Heath is currently producing 32 new technology products for 1993, including a CD-ROM, two videodiscs, 58 hours of video, and 20 floppy-based software products. The latest products include a CD-ROM, The Enduring Vision, Interactive Edition, and two videodiscs, Chemistry in Motion and An American Portfolio (see box).
For information, contact David Serbun, editorial director, or Brian McGuire, manager of new technology, at D.C. Heath and Co., 125 Spring St., Lexington, MA 02173; (617) 862-6650; support line, (617) 860-1218.
